Means for protecting electric conductors.



J. 1. HICKEY. MEANS FOR PROTECTING ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 10, 1913.

1,147,021. Patented July 20, 1915.

' heating in case of lateral I UNITED sT 'rEs PATENT orricn.

JAMES 'r. HICKEY, or rmnrrnm-nnw JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 HICKEY AND scnnnrnna, ornnw YORK, n. Y., AIFIRM.

' MEANS-FOR PROTECTING ELECTRIC GONDUC'IORS.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known vthatjI, JAMES T. HICKEY, a citizen of the United States','and a resident of Baritan, county of Somerset, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Pro tecting Electric Conductors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the protection of electric wire or cable conductors generally, but particularly to those subjected to ,currents of high tension'or potential, where there is danger of electric leakage or dis-' charge, the deterioration or disintegration of the insulator or conductor, or both.

My means of protection are designed incidentally to reinforce the conductor and obviate mechanical but ma'inlytoprevent its burning or overelectrical leakage by utilizing a protecting shield as the actual 1 bining the use, in conjunction sparker or medium of discharge, and by the use of a metallic ground which protects ,both insulator and conductor from the otherwise deleterious effects of electrical leakage.

The invention consists primarily in com with an insulator and an electrical conductor, of a me-' tallic shield contacting with the conductor 'and so formed as to afford a short circuit or line of least resistancebetween the'conductor and the ground which an electrical .leak or discharge will naturally follow, thereby protecting the conductor against weakening or destruction by sparking, and

- for a like reason protecting the insulator a shield, a metallic i away against disintegration. secondarily the 'ventionincludes, in conjunction wi h the aforesaid short-circuit ground interposed, between the insulating means and the support thereof, said metallic ground extending beyond the insulating means so the discharge from the protector shield from the insulating means, thereby safeguarding both insulation and conductor.

In the accompanying drawings, and 2, are elevations showing the application'of my means of protection to a conductor supported on a pin-type insulator;

Figs. 3 and 4, similar views on a smaller scale illustrating the application of the invention to a suspension type of insulator; Fig. 5, is aperspective view Specification of Letters Patent.

heretofore frequently resulting in abrasion or wear thereof,

' not material provided as to deflect- Figures 1-'- with my protecting of one form of Patented July 20, 1915..

Application filed April 10, 1913. Serial No. 760,139.

my conductor shield; Fig.- 6, an end view thereof; Fig. 7, a view showing one application of this form of shield to the conductor; Fig. 8, a sectional view of the conductor and end view of the shield with extensions closed, as in Fig. 7; Fig. 9, a similar view showing the discharge extensions spread apart; Fig. 10, is a side elevation and- Fig. 11 .a face view of a modified form of the shield; Fig. 12, an end view of same.

I herein illustrate the application of my invention to insulatorsdesigned for electric conductors c, for currents of high potential,

the insulators i, being shown more or less symbolically, and as consisting as usual of a plurality of annular aprons i, 11, supported or suspended one above the other as in the. first four figures of the drawings.

=My protector shield may forms as may itself, thereby protecting the conductor from injury by blisterin or burmng,-heret ofore. a serious cause of amage and destruction of high tension conductors.

be of various be desired or found most expedient, the device consisting essentially and The form of the spark protuberance s, is.-

it is adapted to extend from the conductor 0, toward the ground 9, which latter may be the ordinary one constituted b the support of the insulator z, or more pre erably a metallic ground plate 9', which I interpose between the insulator i, and its support '5 By forming this ground plate. 9, to extend out beyond the insulator as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 and toward the spark protuberance s, of my conductor shield s, I am enabled to effectually protect both the conductor against the evil effects of electric leakage" and sparln'ng. Even in the absence of the ground plate g, the shield s, by shortcircuitingthe escaping current protects the insulator as well as the conductor, but by the and the insulating means use of'said ground plate g, in conjunction shield s, with its spark protuberance s, interposed between the no I conductorfand the ground I practically remove the line of short-circuit or leakage beyond the area of insulation, and eliminate all danger therefrom in so far as both insulator and conductor are concerned. As before intimated the actual configuration of the'shield 8, and of the supplemental ground plate 9, are of secondary import and I do not limit myself to the forms herein shown. It is desirable however to form the main portion 8, of the shield, (that interposed directly between the conductor a, and the insulator 71,) in such manner that it may be made to embrace the conductor, in Whole or in part; and the spark protuberances 8', may be made to extend variously, but always to protrude and intervene between the conductor and the ground, ,as shown in the first f four figures of the drawings.-

The means of securing the shield s, in

place may also be varied, any suitable me-.

chanical exp'edients being substituted for those shown',that is tosay, in lieu of the binding wires 6, in Figs. 1 and 2, and the clasps b, 6, shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Besides rendering theconductor-c, and in sulator i, immune from the evil eflects of high tension electrical discharge my shield 8, also protects the conductor from wear and abrasion where attached to the insulator. In

other words and in fact it reinforces'and sustains the conductor mechanically as well,

with a conductorand provided with pro tuberances extending beyondthe conductor,

and means for securing the conductor and shield to an insulator.

2. In a protector for electricalconductors,

a shield comprising a strip of metal having a bendable portion to surround and contact with a conductor and provided with protuberances extending beyond the conductor,

and means embracing the shield for securing the conductor and shield to an insulator.

JAMES T. HIOKEY.

Witnesses Gno. WM. Mm'rr, LILLIA MIATT. 

